Fire-operated safety devices



Dec. 8, 1964 G. L.. BRIDWELL 3,160,250

' FIRE-OPERATED SAFETY DEVICES Filed Nov. 15, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I /IIIl/I/IIIIIIJ v INVENTOR /Z GA/L L. BR/DwE/ L L. BY L 8 a E D14/ARD D. OBR /A/v A TToQ/UEY United States Patent Oillice ld@ Patented Een. 8, 164

3,169,259 FIREQPERATEB SAFETY DEVECES Gail l. Bridwell, Grange, Calif., assigner to Safety Engineering Co., Gardena, Calif., a cti-partnership Filed Nov. l5, 1962, Ser. No. 237,979 laims. (Cl. MSL-45) Broadly this invention relates to fire operated safety devices. More speciiicay, the invention is concerned with devices operated by a lire or the heat generated thereby to automatically position a closure, such as a window, in its closed position to minimize the access of air to a lire area.

All of us `are quite familiar with the rapid progress of a re. This rapid progress often closes off escape routes for persons involved and also materially determines the ultimate extent of damage to be caused to a structure. Hence, the desirability of any type of device which can be utilized to minimize the progress of a fire until professional tire-fighters can be summoned to the scene of 1a re is well apparent.

lt is common knowledge that air or some source of oxygen is required to both sustain a tire and to permit its rapid growth. While many devices have been perfected which function in response to a re to either extinguish it or delay its progress a relatively few have been developed which are capable of blocking the access of air to the initial re area. lt is obvious that 'such devices would be extremely effective in limiting the initial progress of the llames to provide both additional time for persons to escape the areas affected and to containV the tire during the sometime relatively long period required for the arrival of professional tire-fighters.'Y This initial retardation of the flames would also serve vto provide additional time for detection of the re before extensive damage has occurred. Often the mere closure of windows and sliding type firewalls would serve to cut oit sufficient air to both retard the tire by insutciency of oxygen and the elimination of sources of ditats which are required to sustain a iire and permit its rapid development.

Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved lire operated safety device.

Another object is the provision of means responsive to re or the heat from fires to automatically move a closure to its closed position to retard the progress of a re.

An additional object is the provision of a nre operated safety device wherein a force biased slide mems is released by a lire or the heat generated thereby to move a FIG. l is an elevational View ofl a window as viewed from the inside embody' g one form of thepresentinvention; v A n PIG. 2 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of a portion of FlG. 1; l i l PKG. 3 is acrosssectional view taken;l along line 3 3 in FG. 2;

FlG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4 4 K in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional viev taken along line 6-6 in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 7-7 in FIG. l; y

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional View of a return mechanism utilized in the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is `an elevational view of the Window as viewed from the inside embodying another form of the present invention; r v

FIG. 10 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of a portion of FlG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along line Irl-11 in FlG. l0; and

FIG. 12 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view takenV along line l2-l2 in FIG. 10.

The accompanying drawings are primarily intended so as to illustrate presently preferred means of consn'ucting re operated safety devices falling within the scope of this disclosure. It is to be understood that those skilled in the `art to which the invention pertains may effect alterations in the embodiments of the invention disclosed by the use of routine and ordinary engineering skills without `departing from the inventive concepts of the device. Also, further equivalent means can be employed in order to accomplish the operations and structural advantages of the invention.

As an aid toward understanding this invention it can be stated in essentially summary form that it involves a bumper device biased by a return spring mechanism to move along a guide track on which it is slidingly disposed toward the spring mechanism upon the destruction by heat of a fusible link attaching t-he bumper to a fixed object adjacent an end of the guide track remote from the return spring mechanism. In the embodiments shown in the drawings the track is positioned in underlying relation with respect .tol a frame rail of a sliding window sash assembly so thatthe bumper device may engage the sash'upon release to slidel the Window to its closed position.

includes a fixed sash, covering half of the Window area,

formed by a pane of glass i4 supported by a sealing gasket 16 in frame rails i8, Ztl, 22 and 24 which are suitably lixedly mounted in a recess 26 of an ordinary window frame including the usual bottom sill member 2.3 shown in FIG. 3. Window l@ further includes av screen section 3@ positioned in Aa portion of the half of the window adjacent the fixed sash which is provided with a sliding sash 32 that can be moved from a closed position ,to the open position shown in FIG. 1. Sash 32 includes side rails 34 and 36, top rail 3Sland a bottom rail 40, all of which cooperate with la sealing gasket 4Z to secure a glass pane 44 within the sash 32. The window assembly further includes the usual.v framing strips 46.

As can be seen more clearly in FIG. 3; the sliding along the bottom edge `of the bottom rail iii which is i slidingly disposed 'on an upstanding guide rail 5th carried by the sill portion 28 of the window trarne. This arrangement permits the Window sash 32 `to be moved by simple sliding motion between itsV openy position exposing the screen 3@ as shown in FlG. 1 `to a closed position to the right in FIG. l which would, of course, close olf the screen section and provide along with the fixed sash a completely closed window assembly. The fixed sash is provided with a solid sealing strip 54, shown in phantom in FIG. 3, attached to the side frame rail 24 which cooperates with a similar 'overlapping vsealing strip 56 carried by the left hand side frame rail 34 fof the sash 32. One or both of these' sealing strips 54 and 5d may be provided with the usual rubber or mohair sealing strips which operate in the usual manner to effect a relatively air-tight seal when sash 32 is pushed to its closed position.

The bumper assembly l2 may be included on the above described window assembly during manufacture or may be installed separately after the wimdiow assembly has been in use. As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 6 the bumper assembly comprises an elongated guide track 60 forming a straight channel having a bottom 62 and upstanding side members 64 which together with inwardly extending top flanges 66 define internal guide slots 63. Track 66 is disposed on the sill portion 28l of the window frame and partially underlies the bottom rail itl of the sash 32 and extends in front of the fixed sash from the left hand side of the window assembly as viewed inV by means of laterally extending iianges 72 formed on the i bottom of the elongated cylindrical body 74 of the bumper. These flanges 72 are slidingly engaged in the guide slots 68 of the track for free sliding movement ofV the bumper along the track. As may be seen by the :lashed lines in FIG. 3, a substantial portion of the front tace 714iy of the bumper overlaps the bottom edge of the right hand' side rail 34 ofthe sash 32 whereby right hand movement of the bumper along the track 6i? causes the bumper to engage the sash 32 for movement there- 3f to a closed positionk in a manner to be described. The Jumper further includes a recessed rear top portion lelined by a rounded wall 76 and a flat bottomv surface 73 extending between the rounded wall 76 and the rear ace Sllof the bumper. i

Bumper assembly 112 further includes a fusible link assembly 32 and a return spring assembly 84. The usible link assembly includes a iirsty link member 86 iaving a forward end 38 att-ached on the recess bottom iurface 73- of the bumper by a screw 9) passing therehrough into the body, of the bumper; and elongated body aortion 92 of the member S6 extends to a free end 94 which includes a central aperture 96. A secondl link nember 98 is attached to the inside surface of the left land side member l() of the window frame by suitableV neans, such as screws 102, includes an odset downwardly :xtending inger 1MM which lis received in the apertureV t6 of the irst link.

The return spring assembly 84 referred to above, com- ;rises a base member itis which is suitably secured to .he sill 28and positioned to the outside of the sliding lash 32 to provide clearance for a housing itlsupported )n the base. In theV form of the invention shown in UGS. 1-8 the ,assembly 84 is positioned above the sill Z8. structurally the assembly 84 includes a fixed shaft '110 which isp'rovided centrally within the housing and s utilized to vsupportV a reel 112 that is connected i11- ennally in a conventional manner to a coil springi 114-l vhose other endis attached to the shaft 110. A cable [16 Wound in a clockwise direction; onthereel, as seen n FIG. 8, extends through the bottom opening 118-of hevhousing beneath a headed guide pin 120 in a path.

mmediately above and adjacent to the guideV track .60 hrough an-opening V'122 in the lower portion of the Jumper body to a securingferrule 124 abutting Vthe rear ace vof the bumper. It is to be noted that the cable L16 passes beneath the bottom edgeof the seal strip 56y )n the sash 32 and neither the cable nor partsof the ref of mounting.

or closing movement of sash 32.

By virtue of the above described arrangement the sash 32 may be operated in its normal fashion without interference from the spng biased bumper assembly l2. However, in the event a fire starts in the room or area adjacent the window assembly, the direct action of the Y fire or heat from the iire will cause one or both of the fusible links 86 or 98 to melt thereby releasing the bumper which will then be drawn by the cable 116 into engagement with the lower edge of the side rail 34 of the slidable sash 32; Continued movement of the bumper as the cable is wound by spring 114" onto the reel H2. will firmly and positively slide the sash 32 to` its closed position. In this manner the Window will be automatically moved to its closed condition thereby seal-y ing off a source of air which would otherwise feed die re or provide a source of draft to permit rapid spread of the lire.

It can be seen that lif all windows of a building are thus equipped that the progress of any fire within the building would be retarded thereby providing additional time for its discovery and, very importantly, minimizing its spread until the arrival of persons equipped to properly extinguish the fire.

Anadditional structural feature comprising the offset bracket 126 is provided as shown in FIGS. 1 and 7. This bracket issecured to the right hand top edge of the sash 32- by screw 12S to provide a guide in cooperation with the front edge 13d* of the window frame. The purpose of this arrangement is to prevent the window from jamming due to the force of the bumper being applied to the opposite lower `corner of the sash when the fusible link assembly is destroyed in the presence ofa lire.

In the described embodiment the fuse link is commercially available and is composed of a Phosphor bronze composition including -lead and tin. In aY working model of the device of the invention the fuse link was designed yto meltl at a fairly low temperature in the order of F., whichwould obviously be well above the normal ambient temperatures encountered in the area adjacent the window. In order to provide adequate assurance against inadvertent fracture of the link but still providingl suiiioient pull on the bumper to rassure proper closing of `the sash 32, a pull ofv approximately ten pounds on cable 15.6 has been found to beadequate. Accordingly, the link' is provided with suliicient strength to withstand such' a constantloading'.

The embodiment of the safety device described in conjunctionV with FIGS. l8 is intended for use with the [return spring assembly 84- in an exposed position ex-v tending. upwardly from the sillr23. By resort to the arrangement shown'in FIGS, 9-12 the return, spring assembly can be hidden from View. Again this type of arrangement can be utilized with installed or uninstalled window sash. i

As shown in FIGS. 9-12 this embodiment of the safety device differs from the embodiment of FIGS. 1-8 in the structural arrangement required to position the return spring assembly 84 below the Vsurface level of the window sill 28. Otherwise the structure of the remaining elements and the operation of the device are identical to that described ,in conjunctionl with the previously described embodiment. In this embodiment the sill struc altered return spring assembly 156v utilized in this type This assembly issuliustantially identical to that utilizedfor installation in a position above the sill in that it 'includes a top plate y158 having extension tabs 160 having apertures forlreceiving securing screws Y162 that anchor the assembly to the sill. .Also in this form of the spring assembly the guide pin ldd extends a'cross tue housing. This pin, however, is in the form ot a centrally disposed roller and having, trunnions 168 rotatably disposed in suitable apertures in the housing 154. By disposing the assembly in the openings i@ and 152 of the sill as shown in FlG. l0 the entire assembly is hidden from view. This permits the cable 116 to be trained over the roller 1.66 and extend through an opening 17@ defined by a raised stamped portion 172 of the i top plate 158 and along the channel 6d in the same manner as in the previously described embodiment.

In order to provide a sealed or air tight window assembly a small quantity of conventional putty or mastic 174 is applied in the opening 170 after the device is assembled. This small amount of putty provides an effective seal and does not otter `suiicient resistance to interfere with normal operation of the device. Further, sealing is provided by the employment of a covering housing 176 which is positioned over lower protruding portion of the return spring housing 154 and secured by means of screws 173 extending through mounting tabs 180 into engagement with the lower face 182 of the sill. It is quite obvious that the remaining structure and operation of this embodiment is the same as shown in FIGS. 1-8.

From the foregoing it is apparent that new self operating safety devices have been provided which automatically close slide operated windows or tire-doors in the event of a re in their proximity. It is also clear that these safety devices do not interfere with the normal operation of the window on which they are installed prior to the destruction of the securing fuse-links by the action of a ire.

It will be realized by those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains that by ordinary skills a variety of dierently appearing ire operated safety devices may be designed and built utilizing the features of the invention as embodied in the above described examples of the devices of the invention. Accordingly, since the structures or" this invention are susceptible to such modification the invention is to be considered as being limited only by the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A device responsive to temperatures encountered in lires for moving a sliding closure between an open position to a closed position along a slide path of operation of said device, said device comprising:

bumper means having a contact surface;

guide means supporting said bumper means for sliding movement along said slide path said guide means comprising a track having only said bumper in guiding engagement therewith; biasing means fixed in position relative to said slide path for moving said bumper means along said path in a direction coinciding with the direction extending between said open and said closed positions;

connector means fusible at said temperatures, said connector means having first and second ends, said first end of said connector means being xed with respect to said biasing means and said second end being connected directly to said bumper means, said connector means holding said bumper means in a remote position relative to said rst and second positions whereby fusion of said connector means by said temperatures causes said contact surface to engage said sliding closure to move said sliding closure in response .to said biasing means from said open to said closed position.

2. A device as dened in claim 1 wherein said connector means comprises a fusible link connecting said bumper means to a xed point remote from said rst and said second positions.

3. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said biasing means comprises a spring biased reel including a cable connected to said bumper means.

4. A fire operated window closing safety device comprising in combination:

a window frame adapted to be positioned in a building, said window frame comprising a top frame member and a bottom frame member and end frame members connected therebetween to detine the window frame, guide means on said top frame member and guide means on said bottom frame member, said guide means being suited for the guidance of a sash;

a window sash mounted in said window frame in association with said guide means, said window sash being so related to said guide means so that said sash is slidable along said guide means from an open position to a closed position, glass positioned within said sash to inhibit the passage of air through that portion of said window frame at which said sash is positioned, further glass positionable within said window frame so that when said sash is in said closed position passage of air through said Window frame is inhibited;

heat actuated window closing means mounted in association with said window frame, said heat actuated window closing means comprising a heat fusi-ble link having lrst and second ends, said rst end of said heat fusible link being secured to one of said frame members, a bumper movably mounted for substantially linear motion along a path substantially parallel to the path of travel of said sash, said bumper being movably mounted on one of said window frame members having guide means thereon, said bumper being of such dimension and having its path of motion so positioned with respect to the path of motion of said sash that said bumper engages upon said sash when said bumper is moved along its path, said bumper being secured to said second end of said fusible link, elongated iexible means connected to said bumper, force means connected to said elongated exible means to urge said bumper means in a direction adapted to cause said sash to b-e moved towards its closed position, said fusible link restraining said bumper from being moved along its path until said fusible link is melted, whereby said sash may be positioned substantially Without regard to said safety device until said fusible link is melted, and when said fusible link is melted said bumper is urged by said force means against said sash to close said sash.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein bumper track means is secured to said frame member adjacent said sash guide means.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein said bumper track means comprises an elongated bumper guide track secured to said window frame member, said guide track having upward and inward extending portions defining internal guide slots, said bumper having flanges engaging in said internal guide slots so that said bumper is guided for travel along said guide track.

7. The combination of claim 4 wherein said force means comprises a return spring assembly, said return spring assembly including a coil spring, said elongated flexible member being connected to said coil spring so that said coil spring causes tension in said elongated ilexible member, said return spring assembly being secured to one of said frame members.

8. The structure of claim 7 wherein said elongated tlexible member is a cable.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNTED STATES PATENTS 568,739 Brown Oct. 6, 1896 1,289,306 Thompson Dec. 31, 1918 2,059,833 Winn Nov. 3, 1936 

1. A DEVICE RESPONSIVE TO TEMPERATURES ENCOUNTERED IN FIRES FOR MOVING A SLIDING CLOSURE BETWEEN AN OPEN POSITION TO A CLOSED POSITION ALONG A SLIDE PATH OF OPERATION OF SAID DEVICE, SAID DEVICE COMPRISING: BUMPER MEANS HAVING A CONTACT SURFACE; GUIDE MEANS SUPPORTING SAID BUMPER MEANS FOR SLIDING MOVEMENT ALONG SAID SLIDE PATH SAID GUIDE MEANS COMPRISING A TRACK HAVING ONLY SAID BUMPER IN GUIDING ENGAGEMENT THEREWITH; BIASING MEANS FIXED IN POSITION RELATIVE TO SAID SLIDE PATH FOR MOVING SAID BUMPER MEANS ALONG SAID PATH IN A DIRECTION COINCIDING WITH THE DIRECTION EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID OPEN AND SAID CLOSED POSITION; CONNECTOR MEANS FUSIBLE AT SAID TEMPERATURES, SAID CONNECTOR MEANS HAVING FIRST AND SECOND ENDS, SAID FIRST END OF SAID CONNECTOR MEANS BEING FIXED WITH RESPECT TO SAID BIASING MEANS AND SAID SECOND END BEING CONNECTED DIRECTLY TO SAID BUMPER MEANS, SAID CONNECTOR MEANS HOLDING SAID BUMPER MEANS IN A REMOTE POSITION RELATIVE TO SAID FIRST AND SECOND POSITIONS WHEREBY FUSION OF SAID CONNECTOR MEANS BY SAID TEMPERATURES CAUSES SAID CONTACT SURFACE TO ENGAGE SAID SLIDING CLOSURE TO MOVE SAID SLIDING CLOSURE IN RESPONSE TO SAID BIASING MEANS FROM SAID OPEN TO SAID CLOSED POSITION. 